Mr. Bickley
Franklin "Frank" Delano Bickley was a main and recurring character who appeared in 54 of the 95 episodes of Mork and Mindy. The part of Mr. Bickley was played on the series by Tom Poston. About Mr. Bickley Mr. Bickley is Mork and Mindy McConnell's downstairs neighbor. In his first appearance, he does not like Mork or Mindy, but soon warms up to them after Mork gets him a dog, which he names Bickey, after Mork gives Franklin this nickname. He slowly begins to open up to his neighbors and eventually comes to call them his best friends, even if they occasionally get on his nerves. Frank is, ironically, a greeting card writer, and often cries after reading his poems, but always follows it up with an utterance of "hog slop," or the like. Bickley has a strong affinity for the drink bourbon, and keeps a wooden cabinet stocked with travel-sized bottles of it at all times. He is somewhat of a drinker, but is highly functioning. Franklin Delano happens to hate icing, along with Colorado winters. Despite being a writer of sentiments, Bickley has a hard time expressing his own feelings. He often goes about getting what he wants the hard way, and sometimes seems to be in denial of his own feelings. More and Mindy help him to unlock these feelings and eventually turn him into a happier man. There is one continuity error having to do with our dear FDB. In the episode "In Mork We Trust", Bickley says that he and his wife "tried for years, but they couldn't have one of their own," leading one to think that he's talking about children. But then Mork replies, "How sad, a dogless couple," and Bickley's reaction leads us further to believe that he was talking about children. But then in the episode "Mork Learns to See", Bickley does indeed have a son named Tom. In the episode "Mork the Prankster", it is revealed that Franklin used to be known as "Pranky Franky" in college. He takes the credit for popularizing a prank in which one disassembles a car and then reassembles it indoors. Mork is inspired and proceeds to prank Mindy in this way. It almost costs Mr. Bickley his life, but he manages to escape unscathed. In "Looney Tunes and Morkie Melodies", Bickley is an incredibly good sport and in high spirits. He says that he learned to juggle hand grenades while in the army, and shares this talent with Mork, Mindy and company, with balls instead of hand grenades. Bickley never finds out that Mork is an alien, not even when he sees the enormous nest for Mork's egg in the McConnells' apartment. He may have some sneaking suspicions, fueled only by Mork's strangeness and naivety, but never acts upon them. Bickley, in later episodes, seems to strike up a close friendship with Mindy's father, Fred. (Even after Bickley said that he never liked Mindy's dad much, in "Mork in Wonderland"!) The two even go on fishing trips together. Category:Mork & Mindy characters Category:Mork & Mindy main characters Category:Characters